Chapter 16 #2
The guy came over and slid his arms around the leggy blonde at my side.
His green eyes were looking straight at me before he said with more sincerity than I expected, “Thank you,” and turned back to Vail.
“I’m Logan Hudson, from Florida, and if you’re Vail St. James, then apparently, you’re the guy to talk to about getting something done around here. ”
He was being vague on purpose, I could tell, and as the chaos of the room began to settle, Vail nodded to several members of his crew before saying, “I am, and it’s better that we don’t talk here.
C’mon.” He turned, heading towards the security exit, leading the group away.
Logan Hudson and his girl followed, with Haldon and Meredith accompanying them.
I didn’t think I’d need to be included in whatever business they had going, but Lee came over and took my hand, squeezing it as he followed, tugging me behind him.
Turns out, Logan Hudson came with a whole group of people.
Along with his girlfriend, there was another chick with her leg in a cast, and a guy that looked like he was suffering from some sort of virus, judging by how pale he appeared.
It was agreed upon that we would meet up at our townhouse, as it was the most secure place.
For some reason, Vail seemed curious about this guy and their situation.
Though he was suspicious, after having Shaw look into their backgrounds to confirm they were who they said they were, there weren’t any suspicious ties from what we could figure out.
However, he had decided it would be safer to bring them to our townhouse.
As Logan climbed into the minivan’s driver’s seat, the other two were lying out on the backseats.
He was muttering something about missing Betty , whoever the hell that girl was.
I thought this leggy blonde was his chick?
I climbed into Haldon’s beater car, having no choice but to sit sprawled across Vail, Lee, and Shaw’s laps in the back while they hung on to me.
Knowing that my mother was killed in a car accident, drunk driver or not, along with sitting like this without a seatbelt, had my anxiety hitting new levels.
“Why are we helping them again?” Lee asked aloud as we weaved along the roads, the minivan on our tail.
“We aren’t. We’re hearing them out,” Vail said, his demeanor cool and collected as always.
Meredith glanced back from the front seat; one of her dark brows arched like she was confused by this whole situation.
I guess it wasn’t often that outsiders came into Harley asking for help, let alone someone dressed in preppy, designer clothes.
What kind of a psycho walks into a school like Harley, flaunting his wealth and birth status, punches out a girl, and attacks a kid he didn’t even know was surrounded by his friends, with no backup, and just demanded to speak with the leader of Vendetta?
Something was off with that guy, that’s for sure.
“Why the hell are we doing that?” Meredith asked.
“I mean, no disrespect, Vail, but that guy and his friends… they’re from the states, they’re clearly on the run, and trying to hide from someone…
what if they attract them here? We’re basically inviting trouble to come after us, and we have enough problems at the moment. ”
“I hear you guys,” Vail said, his eyes staring out the window as we took some of the backroads to get to our townhouse.
“But I think for someone to have the balls to do what he did, they must be pretty desperate, too. Nothing looks bad in their background, right?” he added, staring at Shaw, who reluctantly nodded.
“And where else can we talk in peace? Not Midnight’s where we would be risking Amelie.
Or at the second house Daniel runs.” Daniel?
“Despite the fact this kid is clearly privileged, he’s coming to us .
If we were that desperate to travel as far as they did, wouldn’t you at least hope that they’d hear you out? ”
The others had gone quiet as we pulled into the parking lot of our complex.
I glanced back at the minivan to see it pulling into the visitor parking, and from here, I could see that small girl in the crutches smacking that blond guy on the back of the head.
Guess she couldn’t stand his cocky attitude, either.
“Okay, Lee, security. Haldon, I need you looking out. If they’ve attracted anyone here, I want a heads up before they move in.
Shaw…” Vail finally looked away from the window and turned to Shaw, who was squashed in the middle between him and Lee, whose lap I was currently sitting on.
Shaw peered sideways at Vail, saying nothing, and the two simply stared at each other in silence for several seconds before nodding, as though they’d just had some telepathic conversation between them.
The four from the van were venturing over, the blond guy supporting his friend who looked like he was on his deathbed. Seriously, what the fuck happened to that guy?
“Let’s go.” Vail opened his door and climbed out but didn’t move towards our home.
None of them did. They remained in the parking lot, watching as the newcomers slowly approached.
The girl on crutches slipped slightly on the ground, but the blonde girl quickly caught her, only to be brushed off the next second, the injured one muttering, “I can do it!” She seemed like a bit of a spitfire.
“Lee will need to do a weapons search before we let you in, you understand?” Vail said when they stopped several feet away.
When the blond guy, Logan, glanced toward his injured buddy, who nodded his approval.
He conceded, carefully leaning him against Haldon’s car for support before spreading his arms out to his side, waiting.
Huh, so the zombie guy was in charge here. Wasn’t expecting that.
Lee moved forward, and we observed nervously as he checked the guy, taking his time searching along his legs for concealed weapons, even going as far as to step on the ends of his feet, and toeing the sides, as if a blade or something could be concealed in his shoes.
When he scuffed the guy's designer leather kicks, I noticed that his green eyes tightened in the corners, as though that seriously pained him to see this happen.
Lee moved on to the sick guy, who he quickly and carefully checked out, before clearing his throat, looking uncomfortable as he glanced at the girls. “Look, guys, I can put it together that these are your women, but I need to search them. Do I have your permission?”
I could tell immediately that the blond psycho didn’t like that… at all. Even their leader seemed a little put off by that question, but with a warning look to his friend, he stiffly nodded to me, “She can do it.”
“I can speak for myself!” The brunette in the crutches snapped, glaring at her guy.
“Shut up, Mouse…” he muttered.
I could tell that the idea of me being the one to search for them was more reassuring, and honestly, I didn’t want to give the one called Logan an excuse to try to hurt Lee. I stepped forward as he whispered in my ear, “The cast.”
I was careful as I did it, asking for the girl’s permission before I checked their bra areas. This was as uncomfortable for them as it was for me, so I tried to be as quick, but thorough, as I could be.
“I need to check your cast,” I told her apologetically.
“What are you going to-” their leader started to say when she cut him off.
“It’s fine! Do what you gotta do so we can get inside.
It’s fucking freezing out here!” She was shivering as she stood there, and I figured that if they were from Florida, they most likely had never experienced a Canadian Autumn or Winter, depending on how long they were staying.
I placed a hand on one side of her cast and knocked on the side of the other.
I didn’t feel movement or a rattle, and I decided she’d had enough.
I finished with the blonde and gave Vail a nod of approval.
“Okay, inside. Lee, can you help get that guy in?” He nodded to their leader, who seemed like he needed to lie down. Lee moved forward to support his other side while his friend assisted on the other.
It was cramped as hell in the entryway, but we managed to shimmy upstairs and arrange the newcomers on the sofa, their leader lying across them with his head in the one he called Mouse 's lap.
Haldon stood close to the bay window, lingering in the background, watching outside as he listened in.
Meredith sat close to him at the dining table, her wide, blue eyes locked on our American guests, and waited.
I stood alongside Vail and Lee opposite the couch, leaning back against the wall, while Shaw armed the house and came up, moving to sit in one of the armchairs, his shadowed face almost completely hidden beneath his hood.
His hands were in the pockets of his hoodie, and I knew that he was holding onto his knife.
“So,” Vail spoke first, his eyes on the leader, “Who are you, how did you hear of us, and why did you come here?
The guy raked his brown hair out of his eyes and sat up on his elbow, facing Vail so he could speak to him directly.
“My name is Micha Kessler, from Ashen Springs, Florida, and we’re looking for a safehouse.
Came into town and asked around. Apparently, if you want to disappear, Harley is the place to do it in Ashland.
And if anyone is going to help someone here, Vendetta are the ones to speak with.
Your crew defends its people. We were hoping to receive the same courtesy. ”